Listening to them has had much attention in recent years, largely due to the Childcare Act (2006) statutory duty for local authorities to have regard for young children's views, and the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which re-emphasised the importance of listening to and involving children in their day-to-day experiences.
There are now a number of new resources and initiatives that support settings and local authorities across the country in developing a culture of listening by placing the voice of the child at the heart of local decision making - for example, by drawing on children's own interests to inform planning and children's participation in choosing equipment. The Young Children's Voices Network at NCB is a project that recognises the importance of providing opportunities for practitioners to share good practice, as a way of inspiring and celebrating not only the voice of children but those who work with them everyday.
But, despite popular recognition from the sector, listening is still not featuring strongly enough in the national framework of qualifications for those entering the profession. For listening to be truly embedded into ethos and practice, everyone needs to be on board. Practitioners need opportunities to reflect on and share effective practice not only in their initial training, but throughout their careers.
What we know is that meaningful participation requires investment in and a valuing of practitioners and their developing practice. With cuts to local authority funding, it will be vital that practitioners support each other, through networks like YCVN. If we want to know how well we are doing, we need to stop, look and listen to what young children think, feel and show us about their experiences, so we can continue to improve the services we provide to them and their families. Settings and local authorities will need to think creatively about how to support practitioners to keep the focus on listening, and progress flourishing.
